Magican: A System Monitor App That Is Actually Worth Using [Mac]

Being a technology blogger, part of my job is to download software, install and review them. Over time, my Mac seems to be the system to be what suffers from this overindulgence of software/apps. However, despite all of this downloading, I have found a way to keep my system in tip-top shape. This solution is with Magican for Mac. Magican allows you to scan your system for applications that are putting pressure on your Mac’s performance. Does it do the job well? Let’s take a look to find out.

What is Magican’s Mission?

The free software, Magican, is meant to not only let you know the software that is wearing down your system, but also to help you get rid of the software itself. The main focus of Magican is on the memory aspect of your Mac, allowing you to free up your memory that various files and applications seem to take up. For example, when you create a video in iMovie, the software saves various parts of your clip into various pieces of cache, as a way of backing up your video. Once you have the finished video product, these caches are no longer necessary, but you have no idea where to remove them. Magican is here to get rid of these unnecessary pieces for you.

Interface

Magican can either be viewed in a full screen or in a smaller page. Magican is meant to not intrude too much on your desktop and allows you to work on what you have to in the background. Magican allows you to see how much memory is used, how much is free, your CPU status, system temperature, and fan speed. At the top right, you have the ability to access the settings. When Magican is left in the background, a window is always there to show the amount of kilobytes per sec being transferred. Also, in an initiative to be more useful, Magican gives you the local weather in your area. That’s a nice touch, though not very much relevant to what it does.

Features

The most common occurrence, even for a system with few applications, is overheating. It occurs to me a lot, especially when I’m hard working on new posts or editing a photo or video. Occasionally, I notice that the fan goes off and that’s when it becomes a bit nerve wrecking. What is good about Magican is that it lets you know when your system is close to that point. For many individuals, they may not know what to do when their fan goes off. However, this is a sign that your Mac is winded and needs a bit of a break. If you must work, at least close other applications that are not required to reduce the processor burden.

Scanning Your System

Magican also allows you to perform a quick scan of your system. After your full check up, all of the problem files are categorized. You can then go into each category and click trash to get rid of all of the problem logs, cache, and other unnecessary “junk”. It’s important to remember that once you click the trash can, they are gone for good. They don’t go into your Mac’s trashcan, they are gone for good. The stat section, my favorite part of the whole application, gives you an outline of how much space you have left, and how much has been used. You can also see network, CPU, and battery information as well.

Suggesting and Informing

If you haven’t had enough junk to get rid of, Magican gives you more software suggestions in the Software section. The software suggestions aren’t junk or games, they are other cleaning software that allows your Mac to stay in tip-top shape. The updates section gives you information on which one of your own third part applications (games and other apps included) that are in need of an update. You may wonder why this is in a cleaning app, but it’s often overlooked about the value of a software update. When you don’t update software, you are opening yourself to a less secure app. Lastly, the uninstall section allows you to uninstall other apps (even if they aren’t junk) one at a time. Lastly, just how a doctor gives you a final bill of health, Magican gives you a final checklist of your hardware status. Magican allows you to see any problem areas, the status of your memory, and more, all in simple and easy to understand terms.

What We Liked and Didn’t Like

I loved how Magican seemed to magically be able to provide all of the information I needed to know about my Mac. I am able to delete unneeded applications and files which helped to keep my Mac’s performance in check. Did I also mention before that it is free?

One thing I didn’t like was how careful I had to be when using the application to ensure that key files weren’t deleted. For example, Greek is a language I have knowledge of and there was an application I needed a Greek language file in and that apparently fell under the unnecessary language files section for applications. I thankfully caught it before deleting. Aside from this minor annoyance, Magican does provide many tools and feature to ensure that what needs to be deleted gets deleted. If the files on your system are extra important, I advise to at least consider transferring those important files to an external hard drive to ensure they are safe when Magican does its magic.

As the writer of this article, I would like to apologize as well. My Mac’s spell check plus that of Microsoft Word and WriteSpace changed the name to Magician and not Magican. The problem has been revised, thanks for pointing this out.